


love until we burn up

by rycnbergara



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Buzzfeed: Worth It (Web Series)
Genre: Cuties, Demon!Shane, Fluff, M/M, Standrew - Freeform, everyone except my main boys are mentioned for like a second, ryan is a human with a crush, shane is a demon with a crush, shyan, so is the standrew ngl, the author has a very different view of what the concept of hell is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 14:26:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14107335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rycnbergara/pseuds/rycnbergara
Summary: Ryan is, at first, terrified when a demon drags him by the ankles through a portal to Hell.However, after less than ten minutes, he decides it's not so bad.





	love until we burn up

**Author's Note:**

> prompt (reblogged by dailyshyan on tumblr):  
> one evening, a portal to Hell opens at the foot of your bed. a demon strides through, rips off your covers, and begins to drag you through the portal by your ankles saying "you're going to help me settle a bet."
> 
> title from cliff's edge by hayley kiyoko!

Ryan couldn’t sleep.

 

He wasn’t sure why. Logically, he should’ve been asleep _hours_ ago. It had been a long day at work, so he was absolutely shattered. His room was cold, the way he liked it, with his duvet keeping him warm. He was tired, he was comfortable – yet he _couldn’t sleep_. He couldn’t put his finger on it – perhaps it was an almost tangible sense of unease, one that settled on his chest before diffusing to fill the room. Maybe it was a dread that filled his heart, that left no part of his mind untouched, that lent an irreversible iciness to the very tips of his fingers and toes. No, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

 

So, one couldn’t imagine his alarm when there was an electronic whirring at the foot of his bed before the darkness imploded on itself, opening a spinning circle which seemed to hold the light of a thousand suns. Or, it seemed that way to Ryan, who had been laying awake in the darkness for four hours.

 

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the alarm turned into a frenzied panic when a man stepped through the circle. He was tall – holy shit, he was tall – and he looked like a perfectly normal, handsome human – that was until his eyes _flickered red._ Ryan began to contemplate whether he _had_ slipped into subconsciousness and this was just some weird ass nightmare his mind was cooking up. He pinched his leg. _Ow._ Nope. Somehow, this was real.

 

The man straightened up, his glowing red eyes meeting Ryan’s wide brown ones, and his hand found the edge of Ryan’s duvet. This was the most terrifying thing to Ryan – all these years, his duvets had protected him from the idea of monsters and demons, and here was an imposing creature with _glowing fucking eyes_ that was about to rip away his last line of defence with ease. The cold hit Ryan like a train when the covers were actually torn away, the fear striking him from his very core, his body rigid with terror. The dude’s hands were round his ankles – normal human hands, except they were _round his fucking ankles_ – and he followed through with his only remaining plan of action – thrashing. Like a fish out of water, he desperately tried to kick the guy’s hands from his ankles, but to no avail. The man stood there with a bored expression, an unwavering grip on Ryan’s feet. “Are you done, dude?”

 

He spoke. _He fucking spoke._ “What the _fuck_ are you doing? You’re like, trying to drag me to Hell with you and you expect me to come quietly?” Ryan countered incredulously.

 

The man rolled his eyes. “You need to chill, bro. I’ll bring you straight back, I just need you to help me settle a bet.”

 

“This is fucked, dude.” Ryan shook his head.

 

“Whatever.” The guy shrugged, somewhat bored with the conversation, and he gripped Ryan’s ankles tighter and pulled him through the portal.

 

*

 

“Shit, I fucked up the portal a little.” Ryan heard the demon man say as he hit the ground hard, his chin taking much of the blow. Pain buzzed through his head from the impact, and he sucked air through his teeth sharply to keep from crying out.

 

“You think?” He snapped, standing up, hands finding his jaw to suss out the extent of the injury. Definite bruise, he imagined.

 

“Yeah.” The demon said, missing Ryan’s sarcasm completely. “It’s fine. We’ll go through the staff entrance.”

 

 _The staff entrance?_ Ryan repeated in his head. _To Hell?_

They were staring up at what seemed to be an enormous fortress, but underground. The gigantic steel gate in front of them was foreboding, certainly, but there was no fire, or rivers of blood, or the screaming of millions of tortured souls like Ryan had imagined. It was simply a castle, surrounded by stark white cliffs, and the night sky above their heads. Whenever Ryan wasn’t looking directly at the sky, however, he noticed in his peripheral vision that the stars turned a gory red. That was odd.

 

“What?” The demon looked down at Ryan, one eyebrow cocked.

 

“Hm?”

 

“You seem confused. Not as shouty as you were earlier.” He mused, and Ryan would’ve shoved him if it weren’t for the constant knot of fear the human felt in the presence of the demon.

 

“I—I was just expecting more…more of the eternal suffering stuff. Tortured screams. Y’know.”

 

“Oh, that’s just a show.” The demon informed him. Ryan looked gobsmacked, and the demon chuckled before continuing. “Yeah. We use demon interns to appear as humans, and they don’t feel pain. It’s just so that when the goody two shoes’ from upstairs come to check on us, they think we’re doing our jobs. Plus, this is just HQ, anyway. Y’know, reception, demons’ apartments, that kinda stuff. No, as inherently ‘bad’ creatures, we reward the bad behaviour that happens in your realm. They get down here, and they’re crying, and pleading or whatever, and we’re like, _it’s fine, dude, do what you want._ Parties, and whatever they wanna do. Pretty fun.”

 

Ryan’s eyes were wide, his jaw practically hitting the ground. The demon laughed again, and then gasped. “I shouldn’t have told you that. I shouldn’t have told you that at all.” He rounded on Ryan, grasping him by the shoulders, his eyes pleading. “You shouldn’t even be here, technically. You can’t tell anyone, when you get back to your realm. Of anything. Promise me, Ryan. Please.”

 

This news was rather irritating to Ryan. He had had his heart set on bringing back evidence of this experience and proving to everyone, especially TJ, once and for all that demons were real. Now, he was bound by those beautiful brown eyes – that Ryan now noticed no longer flickered red (he guessed it was because the demon was back where he belonged) – and he was weak at the knees, promises not to tell tumbling past his lips before he could stop them. But he decided it was worth it, worth sacrificing his pride and his proof, just by the way the demon’s face broke into a relieved grin that could probably light up any room he was in.

 

“Thanks, man.” He beamed, falling into step again with Ryan.

 

“No problem.” He mumbled. God, he’d only just met this guy like twenty minutes ago, and he was a _demon from fucking Hell,_ and Ryan was already fucking _whipped_ for him. He’d attributed it to fear at first, but Ryan was wiser now as he swallowed, thinking of those _damn_ _brown_ _eyes_.

 

The demon suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning to face the gate they’d arrived at. It was much smaller than the main gate, a silver colour, with black swirls boldly marking it. There was a small sign on it – _stop bringing in dead cats every time you show up for work, please._ Ryan squinted to read the smaller font – _we’re looking at you, Eugene._

Ryan looked back at the demon, with an amused look overcoming his expression. The man shrugged at him. “What can I say? He’s a dog person.”

 

Ryan burst out laughing, and it was only a moment before the demon joined him. He quickly swiped an ID card, the grin not leaving his face – Ryan caught a glimpse of the name ‘Shane’. He decided he liked it – it was very fitting. Shane, the demon with _fucking gorgeous eyes_ that had dragged him out of bed at 4AM. Shane, the demon who fucked up the portal and caused Ryan to smash his chin off the ground, causing significant bruising. Shane.

 

His thoughts were disturbed when a gentle nudge at his shoulder told him to start walking through the now open gate. He obliged, walking shoulder to – well, bicep with Shane. “Hey, dude?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“What exactly is this bet I’m helping you settle?”

 

Shane suddenly blushed, and Ryan was enamoured. “You’ll find out soon, I promise. We just have to get you past reception and find Andrew. He’s the one betting against me.”

 

Ryan decided he was content for now with the answer, the two falling into a comfortable silence that stretched until they crossed the threshold of a door that read _RECEPTION._ Ryan breathed a nervous sigh – if he wasn’t meant to be here, he couldn’t imagine this would go well.

 

“Hey, Janet.” Shane greeted the receptionist, who didn’t even look up from her phone.

 

“What’s up, you fat dink?” She replied in a monotonous voice.

 

“Just clocking in.” He grinned, signing something and ushering Ryan on. “Butthead.” He called back over his shoulder.

 

“Whatever, loser.” She replied, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips.

 

Shane pulled out a phone himself, texting rapidly, giving Ryan a chance to look at the place. Now that Ryan was actually inside Hell HQ, his shock at the reality of it – plush armchairs, soft carpets, potted plants – versus his past impression of Hell hadn’t faded. It was almost like a hotel, he thought. And then Shane was nudging his shoulder again, telling him to move. “They’re meeting me at my room.” He said, “And then we’re gonna settle this bet once and for all.”

 

“You still haven’t told me what the bet was, dude.”

 

“Yes, but I _did_ tell you I’d get to that. I’ll stick to my word.” He mused as he dragged Ryan by the wrist through a series of identical corridors and flights of stairs until they were face to face with two other guys, all of them now crowded outside of room _650_. The door was clinically white, like it had been through some sort of sterilisation process. It contrasted starkly with the deep purple carpets and walls, throwing Ryan’s already spinning mind further off-course. The demons outside the door grinned when they saw Ryan.

 

“This the test subject?” One of them grinned. Ryan noticed his fingers were intertwined with the other’s.

 

“You could say that, Steven.” Shane grinned as he unlocked the door and swung it open. The apartment inside was uncharacteristically tidy. Ryan didn’t want to imagine it, but he thought Shane had tidied in preparation for this visit. The other two demons, Steven and who Ryan assumed was Andrew, stood in anticipation – for what, exactly, he wasn’t sure.

 

“Is anyone gonna tell me what this damn bet is ab—” Ryan began, but he was promptly cut off with a ‘mmphh!’ as Shane pushed him up against the wall and kissed him fiercely. Ryan found himself inhaling sharply, overwhelmed by the sensations and feelings of this _beautiful fucking man_ , that he’d managed to fall for in less than an hour, kissing him _senseless_. He gripped Shane’s shirt as if he’d never let go, and Shane’s hands slid under his shirt to grasp his sides. A soft groan tumbled past Ryan’s lips, chasing after Shane’s mouth ever so slightly when he pulled away for air. They were standing so close Ryan could still feel Shane’s breath, and he was certain Shane could hear his heartbeat.

 

“It was – if I brought the human I’ve been crushing on for years down with me, and kissed him hard, would he slap me?” Shane whispered, and he looked at Ryan’s hands, which still seemed to have no intention of letting go of his shirt. He looked back up at Ryan’s dazed eyes and chuckled softly. “It appears I won.”

 

Ryan beamed, tucking his head into Shane’s chest as the demon chuckled and kissed his hair.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! as always, kudos and comments greatly appreciated!
> 
> find me- @bergaraspopcorn on twitter and tumblr <3
> 
> (also, yes, there was a reference to the good place in this, but we were talking about the afterlife and hell here, i couldn't NOT.)


End file.
